Biggest story in sports overshadowing biggest game of Michigan football's season

On the one hand we have talk of suspensions and fines and vacated wins. We have talk of stealing signs and against-the-rules scouting and illicitly obtained videotape.

On the other, we have … sugar?

Leave it to James Franklin, the oft-criticized head coach of Penn State, who met with reporters Monday ahead of Michigan football’s trip to Happy Valley this Saturday and took a precious moment to discuss not only sugar, but donuts and coffee and how his team — and possibly all of central Pennsylvania — is a morning group.

Which is to say he digs the noon kickoff and believes the crowd will be so hopped up on sugar and caffeine that the Wolverines will feel the fury of the crowd in a way they wouldn’t at a night game.

“Somebody asked me about the (noon) game compared to the (night) game. I think sometimes the 7:00 games, the whiteouts and things like that, can be a little sleepy. It's late. The guys are tired,” he said. “The 12:00 game will be (a) much better environment because between the coffee, the Dunkin' Donuts coffee, and the sugar from the doughnuts, our fans will be ready to go. … So, it's going to be ideal.”

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Wait, Dunkin’ Donuts? Does Penn State have some kind of sponsorship with the famed chain? Why yes it does, which makes one wonder if Franklin actually believes in the power of raspberry-filled fried dough or was contractually obligated to mention it.

More likely the Penn State coach was just being a helpful company player. But the point stands: sugar is legal crank, or speed if you didn’t matriculate in the 80s. And whether Dunkin’ Donuts is the vehicle for it or not, a heavy dose of it could turn the “morning group” inside Beaver Stadium into a frothy, mega-hyped, bloodthirsty lot.

Franklin brought up sugar to say this: He wants Michigan to feel the road, feel the noise, feel the crowd, feel some pressure, for goodness’ sake.

“I hope that the environment will be something that's going to be difficult and cause some challenges,” he said. “Because when you can get penalties and get people behind the sticks, (the Wolverines haven’t) had to play that way a whole lot this year. So that will be a big part (of) the game.”

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Did he just use the word “game”?

Praise all that is sweet. It’s about time. Because there is a game Saturday in State College, Pennsylvania, home of the No. 9 ranked team in college football, a team, by the way, that has (relatively) similar talent to Michigan, which is to say: Players who will play on Sundays.

Not as many, of course. But enough to make this feel like an actual contest. And to make it feel like an actual contest, Franklin wants to see what U-M looks like without a several touchdown lead in the fourth quarter.

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“The biggest thing with them is they really have not been challenged,” he said. “They've had really good game control on offense and defense. They're usually ahead on the scoreboard for the most part and they're usually ahead of the sticks, on offense and defense.    And when you're able to do that, then you're putting your quarterback or your guys in a very advantageous position as well. So that game control will be an important part of this game.”

Franklin wants to see how J.J. McCarthy handles pressure, particularly pressure when U-M's receivers aren’t running so freely, as they likely won’t be against Penn State’s corners, Kalen King and Johnny Dixon. Then again, Franklin isn’t the only one who wants to see what McCarthy looks like against a good defense.

Everyone does.

Just as almost everyone wants to see what U-M's top-ranked defense looks like against a competent offense — Penn State averages a fraction of a point less per game than the Wolverines.

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No doubt we’d be thinking about these tasty matchups more, or at least reading about them more, if not for allegations of sign-stealing through advanced scouting. Almost every day, a report comes out about what the Big Ten is thinking, or Michigan’s leadership is thinking, or rival coaches wanting justice.

We’ve heard about potential lawsuits and injunctions; we’ve heard about other schools giving U-M's signs to upcoming opponents; we’ve heard about due process, and how the Wolverines deserve it — they do.

It’s terrific fodder for everyone who dislikes the Wolverines. It’s annoying for everyone who loves them.

Meanwhile, Jim Harbaugh’s football team is about to get its first test of the season. And it’s November. That’s a story, too.

Just not as much of a story as whether the Big Ten, and its new commissioner, Tony Petitti, will punish U-M for employing a football staffer who allegedly broke scouting rules. The staffer, Connor Stalions, is a household name for those who follow college football, a figure whose tales of alleged advanced scouting — a form of cheating — was so compelling that the news of his clandestine shenanigans jumped from the sports pages to the front page, from ESPN to "ABC World News Tonight."

In almost any other year, the game Michigan and Penn State are about to play would be the story, and Franklin’s comments about sugar helping a homefield advantage would be an amusing part of it. And then there is this:

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Franklin didn’t come out and say it, but it doesn’t take an expert sign-stealer to decode this message:

“There have been some games where I've watched them. There have been some games — not just cut-ups — but some games where they've maybe started out a little slow or were down early on, but they have been able to wear people down over the last couple years. Even if they gave up an early score … they've been able to wear people down and be able to get a significant, dominant win.”

In other words, the Wolverines haven’t been tested. Penn State has. Will that be an advantage?

“Yeah,” said Franklin, “it definitely helps.”

Now that’s a story, too.

Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football's first big test: Penn State, and sugar-fueled crowd